Episode 915 - 4 Chefs Compete
The fifteenth episode of Season 9 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on FOX on September 19, 2011, airing as a double feature alongside the sixteenth episode. On that episode, the final four reunited with their loved ones, worked on the pass one at a time, and Ramsay picked two chefs for the finals. Intro The episode began with a season recap, mentioning memorable moments, rewards, conflicts, and featured the final four. While going back to the dorms, Elise told both Paul and Will that she owed them for standing up to their promise, but the men said that she did not owe them shit as Will stated, personality aside, she could cook compared to Jennifer. However, Elise claimed she was back. Family visit The next day, the final four came downstairs where Ramsay said that their next challenge would be an inspiration to them as the judges would be even more inspiring than the actual challenge. However, it turned out to be their families with Elise’s husband, son, and aunt, Tommy’s mother and girlfriend, Paul’s brother, and Will’s mother and wife. As the chefs reunited with their loved ones, Will told his wife how he would look at her photo every day, Tommy made out with his girlfriend next to his mother with Ramsay pointing out, Elise told her husband about her highs and lows, and Paul was happy to see his brother, as he considered the latter his best friend. Individual challenge After the loved ones left, Ramsay announced the Taste It Now Make It Challenge as their next challenge and presented the dish they would be recreating. Each chef had 35 minutes to recreate the dish, and Ramsay added on that the winner would get to spend more time with their loved ones, making Tommy nervous as he wanted to spend time with his girlfriend. The dish contained fish protein, ham wrapping, and a garnish. Elise struggled between cod and halibut, but Ramsay reminded her that she could cook both proteins and drop one come plating. Will was 99% sure it was monkfish, which Tommy used as well, and while Elise used halibut, Paul was cooking both monkfish and cod as they both looked the same. For the ham wrapping, Tommy used serrano ham as it did not taste salty enough to be prosciutto, but everybody else went with prosciutto. Finally, everybody used the same ingredients for the garnish which were mushrooms, kale, and cream. Eventually, everybody had their dishes cooked and plated on time. Tommy was the first to present his dish, much to his dismay as he hated going first, and when Ramsay asked him why he chose monkfish, Tommy answered it was his best guess. While Ramsay deemed the dish nice, he did not tell Tommy how close it was to the original. Elise’s dish was deemed interesting as she used both halibut and monkfish, Will was accused of copying Tommy when he revealed monkfish as the protein, and Paul revealed that he used cod as his main protein, but was super confident that it was not monkfish. After tasting the dishes, Ramsay announced that all of them got the garnishes correct, but Tommy was disqualified for using serrano ham as the correct ham wrapping was prosciutto. In the end, Ramsay named Paul the winner as the dish used cod. Reward As promised, Paul was rewarded with a day with his brother at a local Dodgers game, and he called it the greatest reward. During the reward, Paul and his brother met with Tommy Lasorda, the two got to stand on the field, and Paul felt the history and legacy flowing though him, despite being a Yankees fan. The two met with some Dodgers baseball players, and Paul was ecstatic to have shook Don Mattingly’s hand, before calling it the highest point in his life. Later, as Paul and his brother watched the game, they saw Ramsay out in the field about to throw the first pitch of the game, and the latter joined the two brothers with some hot dogs. Punishment After hearing Paul’s reward, Will was despondent as he wanted to spend his time with his family at a baseball game, and only blamed himself for losing. The remaining chefs were punished by participating in moving day, which included moving out all the unneeded furniture in the dorms. After hearing that, Elise cried once again, and Ramsay got annoyed. During the punishment, Elise disgustingly found food under a red bed, and Will called moving disgusting as the women were not very clean, and every food scrap found were from Jennifer according to Elise. Tommy was in shock over the female’s food trash, before finding a sauce stain underneath one of the blue beds, and even asking Elise to taste it as she had the best palate. Before service The next day, the final four began prepping for that night’s service, but Tommy and Elise were arguing over whether a container had mascarpone or butter in it. Although Tommy conceded defeat after tasting it, which was butter, Elise felt the former made it far due to being bossed around and following others. After prep, Ramsay had the final four lined up, and announced that he would be giving each of them a chance to run the pass and show him their leadership skills. However, Ramsay warned them it also determines who deserved to be in the final two as after that night, he was cutting the field in half. That news shocked Will as it made everything more real, and after going to their stations, Ramsay asked James to open Hell’s Kitchen. Dinner Service Rex Hudler was in attendance that night, and Paul was called up as the first person to run the pass. Immediately, Paul was vocal when he called out his first ticket and wanted to show why he was a big deal. After the first ticket was sent out, Paul asked for times, but while Will and Elise answered him, Tommy did not, frustrating Paul until his third time. After, Paul and Ramsay discovered a raw cod Tommy sent up, but while that happened, Sous Chef Scott prepared the first quality test of that night, a capellini with shrimp instead of lobster. Paul did not notice the mistake until Ramsay told him, but he was ready to bounce back despite the mistake Despite that, Paul’s leadership was strong as food was leaving the blue kitchen. Later, Paul asked Tommy for the refire constantly, but that annoyed the latter as he felt the former was too antsy, and Elise called Paul’s leadership poor as he was shouting. Then, a shouting match between Paul and Tommy occurred, but the refire was finally accepted. Tommy was the second person to run the pass, and despite being picked on as a quiet guy, he was ready to show he could be a loud guy. Despite almost forgetting to grab a ticket with him, Tommy called out the order very thoroughly, but Paul and Elise needed a reread as they were confused on the order. Then, James sent up a purposely wrong ticket that had filet on the order when it was not on the menu, but Tommy did not notice it and read out the incorrect ticket. Fortunately, Will knew that it was wrong and told Tommy to call back James, while Ramsay reminded him read out the ticket in his mind before out loud. Despite the problems, Tommy was able to push out appetizers, and was ready on entrées. However, he confused the timings as he called out a minute and a half on garnishes, which Will corrected Tommy by saying it was two and a half minutes. However, despite Tommy’s unevened leadership, food was leaving the kitchen. Elise was the third person up, and while Paul wanted to see how the former could back up her talk, Elise was ready to run the kitchen. However, she did not know that the puree contained potato instead of cauliflower, and started plating it until Ramsay stopped her, even bewildered that she did so despite tasting it earlier. That led to Elise getting emotional again, but she got herself recomposed, and the entrées were being pushed out. However, Sous Chef Scott handed her parsnip puree instead of mashed potatoes, but that time, Elise caught it, and then, she rejected Tommy’s sea bass for being chewed up like a dog, but he felt there was room for one Ramsay and one big mouth. Eventually, Elise’s vocal performance was moving forward, and while she felt good about her performance, Will felt that he had to do everything to make sure she did not win. Will was the final person to run the pass, and after given a review from Ramsay, he was ready to succeed as a leader. Then, Sous Chef Scott sent up a Wellington with lamb and a hanger steak instead of striploin, but Will caught them immediately. However, when Elise sent up the spinach, Will discovered raw pasta, but she had no idea how it got there, and despite being ordered to do a refire, she dumped the spinach to a plate. Then, Elise sent up potatoes with black pepper in it, and when Will accused her of sabotaging him, she called it an accident, which led to an argument, and eventually, the entire table needing to be refired. After, nobody responded to Will’s next order, and Ramsay accused them of switching off. However, people were starting to respond once again, but Elise accused Will of barking instead of leading. Afterwards, Ramsay asked Will to go back to his station, and with Ramsay back on the pass, the final tickets were finished. Post-mortem When the final four were lined up, Ramsay called that night a tough one as everybody had their ups and downs. Then, he asked the four to come up with a reason why deserved to be in the finals. During deliberation, Tommy called it the most important night as a chef, and felt that he did well, but none of the other chefs spoke up about it, turning his confidence down a notch. While Paul was not worried about Tommy, he was more worried about Elise due to her strong performance at the pass, while Will told her that nothing he said was personal. However, Elise accused Will of fearing her. Elimination When the final four came downstairs, Ramsay said that he did a lot of thinking, and while he knew there was one person he understood the most and appreciated the most, he also felt that person was not ready to become his next Head Chef. That led him to eliminate Tommy, but before leaving, Ramsay praised him for his energy, and that he belonged in a kitchen. As Tommy handed his jacket, he confirmed that the tattoos were staying, and during his exit interview, he received a retrospective montage. After Tommy left, Ramsay reminded the final three that he would be picking two of them for the final dinner service for the Head Chef position at BLT Steak, before asking them why they deserved to be in the final two. Will believed that he was born to cook, Paul claimed that despite his imperfections, he motivated his team and gained respect, and Elise felt that she grew the most out of all the chefs that year, before promising to show passion when she won. After, Ramsay announced Will as the first finalist, and after a tough and close decision, Paul was named the second finalist, therefore leaving Elise as the eliminated chef, much to her tearful dismay. Before leaving, Ramsay praised Elise for her resilience and allowed her to keep her jacket. During her exit interview, Elise received a retrospective montage. After Elise left, Ramsay told Will and Paul that their biggest service was yet to come, and the episode ended as a cliffhanger. Ramsay gave no comment on Tommy or Elise’s eliminations, and neither of them received the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence. Category:Season 9 Category:Episodes